Thursday, January 21, 2010

Fiona Taylor made the comments after a study revealed that customer satisfaction was 20% higher in the fast-food chain's restaurants that employ staff aged over 60.Mrs Taylor has worked as a lobby hostess at Derby's Markeaton Park McDonald's for 13 years and says she agrees with the survey's results.

The mother of two said: "I suppose being that bit older not only gives us more experience, but we are confident within ourselves and of our abilities.

"My job involves speaking to the customers every day on a face-to-face basis and every day there is someone who has an interesting story to tell.

"Because I have good experience of dealing with people, I can pass it on to the younger workers. In turn, they can relate well to customers their own age."

The study was conducted by Lancaster University Management School and revealed that levels of customer satisfaction were on average 20% higher in restaurants that employ staff aged 60 and over.

More than two-thirds of people surveyed said older workers connected well with customers, while 47% said they went the extra mile.

Mrs Taylor, of Welwyn Avenue, Allestree, is married to retired builder Bob and went back to work after raising children Ian, now 33, and Jane, now 31.

She said: "Younger members of the team tend to keep the atmosphere fun.

"Having said that, I don't really see my colleagues as being a certain age, I just think of us as one big team, each with their own skills and assets."

Mrs Taylor is one of several staff members aged over 60 working at Derby's six McDonald's restaurants.

Eddie Legdowicz, McDonald's franchisee for the Markeaton Park restaurant, said: "I wouldn't be without my over-60s employees – together with the younger generations they deliver excellent customer service, something which is more important than ever.

"Most people think of us as a destination for first-jobbers and, whilst that's true, it might surprise people to learn we employ more than 1,000 people aged over 60 in the UK.

"These employees play an important role in my business and, as the research shows, they make a huge impact on customer satisfaction."

Professor Paul Sparrow, who undertook the study, said the results showed the value of employing older workers.

He said: "For McDonald's, we can show that the presence of older employees improves customer satisfaction and, in a service-led business, this drives the bottom line.

"Mature employees are a key part of the performance recipe.

"Employers must rise to the challenge of adapting to Britain's ageing workforce and this research shows that there can be a sizeable prize at stake for those which succeed."

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